James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad to Open 2021 Fantasia Film Festival

In honor of the 25th anniversary of Fantasia International Film Festival, James Gunn’s highly anticipated take on The Suicide Squad will be presented as a special event screening on August 4th—one day before the festival officially kicks off, and two days before the film hits theaters and HBO Max.

This announcement comes with the festival’s unveiling of their second wave of programming. Gunn is no stranger to the festival, as his first Guardians of the Galaxy film premiered in Canada at Fantasia in 2014. The DC antihero film will screen in-person at the historic Imperial Theater in Montreal. However, all further screenings are still set to screen virtually.

Other festival additions include a number of earlier 2021 festival breakouts, like online roleplay horror film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, the Nicolas Cage-led Sion Sono flick Prisoners of the Ghostland and animated feature Cryptozoo, all from Sundance, as well as folk horror documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched and The Spine of Night from SXSW.

The festival will officially open on August 5th with the screening of Julien Knafo’s Brain Freeze. Additional titles include Anna Zaytseva’s social media thriller #Blue_Whale, ghost story Martyrs Lane from Ruth Platt and documentary You Can’t Kill Meme on the fascinating, unrelenting obsession we have with internet memes.

The third and final wave of titles will be announced in July. The Fantasia Film Festival will be held from August 5th through the 25th.